Who got that job?

Were you one of the people who applied for this job and wondered who got it?

Job: Chief executive.

For: Workbridge.

Ruth Harrison is about to leave her job as Wellington City Council's strategic director to lead 120 people, the Workbridge Council and its board in an attempt to improve a sobering statistic - around 50 per cent of working-age disabled people are unemployed.

Fully funded by the Government, Workbridge helps disabled people into work. It grew out of post-Second World War schemes to assist disabled returned servicemen.

Today, more than 10,000 New Zealanders with some form of disability are estimated to be actively seeking employment.

"People find it really hard to get over the employment barrier," says Harrison, who does not have a disability but is very aware of the issues facing those who do.

Potential employers look at disabled candidates in terms of what they cannot do, rather than what they can, she says.

And too frequently, the really important question never gets asked: "What would you need to be able to do this job? It's not a hard question."

Disabled people, she adds, have become better educated like the rest of the population, and have the same career expectations as everyone else. Harrison, who has spent much of her career working in the public sector, will be handling an annual budget of $10 million. One of her main aims for Workbridge is a fresh focus on customer service.